William tayloe



(No Model.)

'J. S. BEEMANW. TAYLOR & F. KING. SECONDARY BATTERY REGULATOR.

No. 291,465. j v Patented a 1, 1884.

o der the arrangement just indicated,-be brotion; but we would remark, as regards the UNITED STATES JOSEPH S. BEEMAN, \VILLIAM TAYLOR, AXD FR ENGLAND.

PATENT @rrrcn.

AXK KIXG, OF LONDON,

SECONDARY-BATTERY REGULATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part. of Letters Patent No. 291,465, dated Januaryl, 1884.

Application filed February '28, 1883.

(No model.) Patented in Eugland August 10,1882.Xo. 3,813, and in France January 15, 1883, X. 140,300.

To all whom itJn-ay concern/.-

Be it known that we, JosErH SAMUEL BEE- MANJVILLIAM TAYLoR,an d FR AXK KING, all of 67 Strand, London,' England, have invented 5 anew and useful Improvement on Secondary- Battery Regulators, (for which we have obtained patents in England, dated August 10, 1882, No. 3,813, and in France, dated January 15, 1888, No. 140,860,) of which the fol- 1 lowing is a specification.

- Our'invention relates to the regulatingof secondary batteries, and has for its objectto provide an efficient means for cutting the battery out of the charging-circuit before the charging operation has been carried so far as to cause gas to be evolved from the batteryplates. To this end we combine in the battery-cell with thebattery plates proper a plate of relatively less storage capacity-which 2:) may be called a regulator-platea gas chamber, in which the gases evolved from said regulator-plate are received, and an elastic diaphragm, or its equivalent, whioh, by the pressure of the confined gases, is caused to operate contact makers or breakers, at the same time retaining the gases in the cell. Inasmuch as gases will be evolved from the regulator-plate sooner than from the battery-- vplates proper, the charging -circuit will, un-

ken before the latter plates begin to evolve gases.

The annexed drawings will serve to illustrate various modes of performing our invencontact-breaking or current-regulating apparatus, that the devices shown may be modified considerably without departing from the nature of the invention. l

In all the figures like letters refer to like or corresponding parts. 7

Figures 1, 2, and 3 are respectively part plan, longitudinal section, and transverse section of a storage or secondary-battery cell. Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 represent-various modifications of the diaphragm for operating the contact makers or breakers.

The cell is fitted with what we call a gaschamber," B, holdinga plate, A, made of a size to be stored by the battery.

proportional to the amount of energy intended The chamber B may be of any convenient size or shape. In the-chamber B is formed a suitable orifice, C, fitted with an elastic or yielding diaphragm or equivalent, D, as shown in Figs. 2, l, 5, 6, and T or, in lieu of said diaphragm, a piston, D, as in Fig. 8, or apparatus similar to a Bourdon pressuregage tube may be used. Said diaphragm or equivalent is acted on by the pressure of the gas evolved from the-plate A, contained in the chamber B, causing the said diaphragm or equivalent to be lifted and raise a lever or other device, G, which rests or is fixed on it, and'said lever or device is made to operate any well-known electrical contact-breaking apparatus, or such apparatus as are shown in Figs. 1 and 3, where G is the lever or equivalent, actuated by the diaphragm D, or its equivalentsuch as the sliding or teloscopic tube arrangement in Fig. 4, or the bellows arrangement in Figs. 5 or 6-said lever G being furnished at one end with a rod, H, dipping into a cup, I, supplied with mercury or other metallic contact, said mercury or equivalent being in electrical con nection with the electric generator or any contact-breaking apparatus; or, instead of employing a lever to break contact when the diaphragnrrises, the yielding diaphragm may contain mercury, as shown in Fig. 7, which, when elevated, makes contact with the conductors K, so as to cause the current from the charging-circuit to he cutout or diverted.

In employing an apparatus for regulating secondary batteries, we proportion the size of the plate A, by making such plate smaller than the plates or electrodes of the battery proper, according to the amount of energy to be stored in the battery. \Ve find that the plate A being made, say, nine-tenths of the storage capacity of any other plate in the battery, gives a desirable result, and that the battery is thereby cut out of the charging-circuit some time before the gas would otherwise be evolved from the battery-plates, thus prolonging considerably the life of the plates composing the battery.

\Ve are aware that valves have been apwith the battery-plates proper, of a regulatorplate, A, of relatively less storage capacity,

makers or breakers, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore setforth. J

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification in the presence of two subscrib 15 ing Witnesses. J. S. BEEMAN.

- W. TAYLOR.

FRANK KING.

plied to batteries to permit the escape of gas,

but according to our invention We retain the gas evolved from the plate A, and allow it tooperate a diaphragm or equivalent, for the purpose described. 1

' \Ve claim as our invention- The combination, in a secondary-battery cell,

Witnesses:

H. J. HADDAN,

a gaschainber, B, andthe elastic diaphragm l A. E. MELHUIs'H.

D, or its equivalent, for operating contact 

